Newsstand: Michigan reviewing reported altercation between Juwan Howard, Jon Sanderson
The Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball program appears to be dealing with another hurdle heading into mid-December. Rumors Sunday night linked head coach Juwan Howard to an alleged altercation with strength coach Jon Sanderson last week, which is being reviewed by the university.
Some rumors had suggested that the altercation became physical, but Brendan Quinn of The Athletic put out what is known late Sunday.
“According to a university official with direct knowledge of the matter, Howard’s status as Michigan’s head men’s basketball coach is unchanged.
“A confrontation between Howard and longtime U-M strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson in a team practice late last week is being explored and going through a university review process. It is university procedure for such a review to be conducted outside of the athletic department.
“Multiple sources say claims of punches being thrown in the aforementioned altercation are inaccurate.
“Sanderson did not travel to Iowa with the team for Michigan’s game at Iowa (Sunday). He did not return a call for comment. According to a university source, Sanderson currently remains part of the program.
“Worth noting: Howard remains under a zero-tolerance policy instituted by U-M after striking a Wisconsin assistant coach in February 2022.”
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Howard has been working his way back from heart surgery and has been on the bench as an assistant while associate head coach Phil Martelli handles head coaching duties. It remains to be seen how this will affect the plan moving forward.
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Michigan quote of the day
“In a Division I game, obviously, I don’t know if you’re going to have a lot of games where you have six guys in double figures. It speaks volumes about the contributions. And Tray Jackson — calling it honestly — if he had kept his mouth shut, we would’ve had a seventh guy in double figures.
“So, the key, to me was transition defense, transition defense, transition defense. We committed to that, we feared it, we knew that they laced up after Thursday night — Friday, Saturday, getting ready — to get 100 and to test us to see if we could do the same. Our transition defense and our shot challenges, even at the rim, were really what set this apart.
– Michigan acting head coach Phil Martelli on Sunday’s win over Iowa
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